LOCATION ROMEO IL+OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Romeo silt loam - pasture at an elevation of 178 meters (585 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); 0 to 8 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many very fine to coarse roots; 3 percent gravel; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [5 to 25 cm (2 to 10 inches) thick]
R--20 cm (8 inches); unweathered limestone bedrock; strongly effervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Will County, Illinois; 46 meters (150 feet) south and 390 meters (1,280 feet) east of the northwest corner of sec. 25, T. 37 N, R. 10 E.; USGS Romeoville topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees 40 minutes 13 seconds N. and long. 88 degrees 02 minutes 27 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16T, 413352E, 4613695N, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of soil development and depth to bedrock is 5 to 25 cm (2 to 10 inches). Reaction ranges from slightly acid to moderately alkaline.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y; value of 2 to 3; and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam high in sand content. Coarse fragments comprise less than 15 percent by volume in the soil.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Joliet and Little Cottonwood series. Joliet and Little Cottonwood soils are greater than 25 cm (10 inches) to a lithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Romeo soils are on nearly level bottom land and water-swept benches on limestone or dolostone bedrock. Slope gradients generally are from 0 to 2 percent but range as high as 4 percent. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 9 to 13 degrees C (48 to 55 degrees F), mean annual precipitation ranges from 740 to 1020 mm (29 to 40 inches), frost free days range from 140 to 180 days, and elevation ranges from 152 to 311 meters (500 to 1,020 feet) above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Romeo soils are associated with the shallow Joliet soils, moderately deep Millsdale soils, and the well drained Channahon and Plattville soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Because of the thinness of the soil, drainage cannot be assessed; however, soils are saturated with water at some period during the growing season and subject to flooding or ponding during spring months of most years. Generally the bedrock will not allow the water to pass downward, while in dry periods the soil is droughty. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second). Permeability of the soils is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mostly for pasture; some is idle. Native vegetation was grasses and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Illinois. Extent is small in MLRA's 108A, and 110.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Will County, Illinois, 1912.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 20 cm (8 inches) (A horizon); lithic contact at a depth of 20 cm (8 inches).